July 2 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God" (Rom. 8:28 NASB).

Devotional

The apostle may safely rest his appeal with us. We know this because God has said it. We know it because others have testified to it. Best of all, we know it because we have experienced it ourselves. We can set our own seal to the truth that the infinitely great, all-wise, righteous, and beneficent Lord God causes all things—both in the world and in the church, as well as in the history of each member of the church—to work together for good.

What that good may be, what shape it may assume, what complexion it may wear, what end it may serve, we cannot tell. To our dim view it may appear to be an evil, but to God's far-seeing eye it is a positive good. If his glory is secured by it and that end accomplished, then we are sure it must be good.

Oh truth most divine! Oh words most reassuring! How many whose eye traces this page, whose tears may wet it, whose sighs breathe over it, whose prayers hallow it, may be wading in deep waters, may be drinking bitter cups, and are ready to exclaim "All these things are against me!" Oh no, beloved of God, all these things are for you! "The LORD sits enthroned over the flood" (Ps. 29:10). "The voice of the LORD is upon the waters" (Ps. 29:3) "He makes the clouds his chariot" (Ps. 104:3). Do not be afraid. Calmly fix your faith on this divinely assured truth, that "God causes all things work together for good to those who love God."

Will it not be a good if your present adversity results in dethroning some worshiped idol? Will it not be a good if it results in endearing Christ to your soul? Will it not be a good if it results in more closely conforming your mind to God's image? Will it not be a good if it results in purifying your heart? Will it not be a good if your present adversity results in your more thorough fitness for heaven? Will it not be a real good if it terminates in reviving God's work within you? Will it not be a real good if your present adversity results in stirring you up to more prayer? Will it not be a real good if it results in enlarging your heart to all who love the same Savior? Will it not be a real good if your present adversity results in stimulating you to increased activity for the conversion of sinners, for the spreading of the truth, and for the glory of God?

Oh yes! good, real good, permanent good must result from all God's dispensations in your history. Bitter repentance will end in your experiencing the sweetness of Christ's love. The festering wound will only elicit the healing balm. The overpowering burden will only bring you to the tranquil rest. The storm will but hasten you to the hiding-place. The north wind and the south wind will breathe together over your garden, and the spices will flow out. In a little while—oh, how soon!—you will pass away from earth to heaven, and in its clearer, serener light will read the truth, often read with tears before, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God."

Whate'er my God ordains is right:
holy his will abideth;
I will be still whate'er he doth;
and follow where he guideth:
he is my God: though dark my road,
he holds me that I shall not fall:
wherefore to him I leave it all.

(Samuel Rodigast, 1675; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.